Why it works: Pepper and parsley match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 2% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 34,122 recipes. Both carry 4'-methylacetophenone, which smells bitter almond. The science ↓
Corn Soup
Ingredients
Directions
Make the soup
Boil the chicken in 1 gallon of water until tender, about 1 hour.
Add the corn and stew gently for about 1 hour.
Remove the chicken and reserve 1 cup of the liquid.
Season the soup with pepper, coarse sea salt, and parsley.
Thicken the soup with flour if desired and serve without straining.
Make the fricassee (optional)
For a fricassee, mix the reserved liquid with 1 beaten egg and 1 tablespoon of butter.
Season the mixture with parsley, pepper, and coarse sea salt, thicken with a little flour, and pour over the chicken.
Transcribed from a scanned cookbook and modernised for today's kitchens. Where the book gave no heat or time, or said "a moderate oven", the temperatures and times here may be modern equivalents rather than the book's own figures.
Explore the science
The flavor team
The pairs that carry this dish. Each one is judged two ways: how much their aromas overlap, and how often cooks already put them together.
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Pepper + parsleytop 2% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together34,122 recipes
Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).
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Corn + peppertop 11% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together5,324 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
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Corn + parsleytop 12% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together943 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,4-decadienal (seaweed).
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Flour + buttertop 12% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together124,287 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Parsley + flourtop 12% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together16,675 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
Flour and butter barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 124,287 recipes: they work on texture and structure more than aroma.
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Fowl
- Provides the meat and the rich, flavourful broth that forms the base of the soup.
- Green corn
- Adds sweetness and body to the broth as it stews gently.
- Egg
- Thickens the reserved liquid into a silky, custard-like sauce for the fricassee.
- Flour
- Thickens the liquid so the soup or fricassee becomes less watery and coats the spoon.
- Butter
- Adds richness and fat, giving the fricassee a smoother mouthfeel and flavour.
The step that matters
Thickening the fricassee with egg. Egg proteins set when heated, so the beaten egg must be stirred into the warm, not boiling, reserved liquid and cooked gently. Too much heat can scramble it into lumps.
Swap the parsley
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (corn, pepper, flour, egg, butter):
- Nutmegfits about as well
- Parsleythe original
- Tarragonfits about as well
- Turmericfits about as well
Fit is the average pairing score against corn, pepper, flour, egg, butter. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.
“What each ingredient does” and “The step that matters” were written by Claude from this recipe’s own method and reviewed in samples by CompKitchen.
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